


Scars

by whooshboomtree



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Fluff, Just a little angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-30
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-12-09 00:29:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11657844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whooshboomtree/pseuds/whooshboomtree
Summary: Sometimes, darkness can leave strange kinds of scars.





	Scars

**Author's Note:**

> Holy wow I wrote something that doesn't involve robots??  
> I'm sort of on a major Kingdom Hearts kick right now, and I wound up writing this after seeing a headcanon by tumblr user destiny-islanders that went together nicely with one of my own long-standing headcanons. Forgive me for I think I've written anything with Sora and Riku ONCE in my entire life, and that was a number of years ago.  
> Takes place shortly after Sora and Riku wake up at the end of Dream Drop Distance.

“Didn't Yen Sid and Mickey tell you to rest?”

“Mmhm,” Sora replied absently, not looking toward the doorway and instead continuing to lay on his back idly swinging his keyblade at the ceiling, pausing every now and again to unsuccessfully attempt to puff his bangs out of his eyes.

“Well clearly you're not sleeping.”

“Riku, I think it's safe to say I've had enough sleep to last me a month.” This time, Sora did sit up, his grin assuring his friend that he was only teasing. “What’d Yen Sid have to say?”

“Not much,” Riku replied with a shrug. “He just had a few more questions about how the exam went. He said he’ll tell us the rest tomorrow.”

“So why do you look so annoyed?”

“It's nothing,” Riku said with a shake of his head, hoping that if Sora wouldn't sleep now, maybe he'd at least sleep in a few hours, Yen Sid and Mickey both having insisted that the boys stay the night in the tower to recover from their ordeal. Sora, in particular, had been scolded by everyone present until he’d reluctantly gone to lay down, though not without complaining the entire way about not being tired in the slightest. “I'm just convinced that Axel is the most obnoxious person in the world. Or any world, for that matter.”

“Lea,” Sora corrected without thinking. “And he's not  _ that _ annoying.” He paused, seeming to consider that for a moment before frowning and scratching his head. “Either that or Roxas is somehow rubbing off on me. I'm still trying to get used to that.”

“You and me both,” Riku agreed, still equally as confused and mildly unnerved about how many people he'd spoken to while in Sora’s heart, between Ansem, Roxas, a Roxas-lookalike, and a girl he still couldn't put a name too no matter how hard he tried. “But he's still obnoxious.”

“Sounds like we’re stuck with him now though,” Sora said, feeling oddly happy at the prospect.

“That should go well, I’m sure he and Kairi will get along fantastically,” Riku scoffed. “He only kidnapped her.”

“She’ll put him in his place,” Sora said, and this time his grin was nothing if not cheeky. “I'll make sure they don't maim each other.”

Riku murmured a half-enthused agreement, and Sora laid back down and resumed idly swinging his keyblade at the ceiling, knowing from years of experience that Riku was more prone to start talking about what was bothering him if he wasn't nagged about it, and Sora was positive that something was bothering him. Sure enough, it was a few minutes of silence before a call of his name caused him to look up again.

“Are you sure you're okay?” Riku asked, his forehead just slightly creased in a way that betrayed more worry than he wanted to openly show.

“More or less,” Sora replied, sitting up and leaning his chin on the handle of his keyblade lazily. “I told you I feel a lot better.” He frowned, tilting his head slightly. “Am I not acting like it?”

“You seem distracted.”

“There’s a lot to process,” Sora said with a shrug, sure regardless that he’d be able to process it all eventually. “Are  _ you _ okay?”

“I guess,” Riku sighed, shaking his head and heading over to the door leading to the adjacent bedroom, wordlessly shutting it behind him.

Sora rolled his eyes, dematerializing his keyblade as he got to his feet and marvelling at Riku’s continued ability to be the moodiest person in any world he’d ever visited- and that was a  _ lot _ of worlds. “Come on, Riku,” he said, crossing the room and pushing open the adjacent bedroom door without knocking or asking first. “Do you really have to go pout by yourself right  _ now _ ?”

He stopped before making another quip when he saw that Riku was not, in fact, pouting, but was instead standing in the middle of the room with his vest halfway off, looking only mildly offended at Sora walking in on him. “I’m changing,” he pointed out flatly. “You mind shutting the door before Axel walks in on us?”

“Lea,” Sora corrected with a shrug, and this time it was Riku’s turn to roll his eyes as he took his vest off the rest of the way and reached for his duffel bag to dig out a more comfortable nightshirt. “Hey,” Sora said, shutting the door as he was told but frowning slightly as he just barely caught sight of something on the back of his friend’s shoulder. “What’s that?”

“What’s what?”

“On your back.”

“Just scars,” Riku replied, not bothering to try to stop Sora from coming closer and circling around him for a better look at the impressively painful-looking net of marks crisscrossing his back from his shoulders down to his waist.

“From  _ what _ ?”

“Take a wild guess,” Riku said, pulling his nightshirt over his head and finding himself unable to meet Sora’s worried gaze. “It looks worse than it really is.”

“Riku…”

“It’s not that bad,” Riku insisted, sure without looking that Sora was definitely pouting at him. “They’re just scars, Sora…”

“That’s also what happened to your eyes, right?”

That was enough to startle Riku into finally looking up, surprised to see Sora looking as much inquisitive as worried. “You noticed that?”

“I’m not  _ that _ unobservant,” Sora said with a soft huff. “Gold rings kind of stand out against blue though, y’know. And I didn’t know about your back because we’ve all been too busy to spend any time at the beach.”

“Well…”

“Well what?”

“You...should go look,” Riku said, rubbing the back of his neck and angling his head toward the full-length mirror in the corner of the room.

“Okay…” Sora frowned, but crossed the room to examine himself in the mirror, unsure for several seconds of just what Riku looked so distraught about. “I don’t get what you’re... _ oh _ …”

He leaned closer to the mirror, closing one eye and tugging down his eyelid to get a better look at the thin gold ring encircling his pupil. “It’s just like what happened to your eyes,” he murmured, checking his other eye and seeing the same gold ring. “I...thought that was just because…”

“Of the darkness,” Riku finished for him. “I did too. But I noticed it after I woke up, when you hugged me. I guess it must be something to do with Xehanort.”

“Guess so,” Sora agreed after a moment’s thought. “Is that why you’re being so fussy?”

“That among other reasons, the main being that almost losing you to Xehanort scared me half to death,” Riku said. “You don’t seem very bothered though.”

“Maybe it just hasn’t hit me yet,” Sora admitted. “I’m still processing everything that’s happened, but I feel like I need to...do something. I dunno what though, I just feel...restless.”

“You haven’t seemed bothered by this, either,” Riku added, pointing to his own eyes and their near-identical if slightly thicker gold rings. “Considering you never said anything.”

“They’re just scars,” Sora said. “It’s not like it matters that much, you’re still you and I’m still me. It’s no big deal, really.”

“I guess, but-”

“And don’t say you shouldn’t have let this happen,” Sora interrupted. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“But-”

“It  _ wasn’t _ ,” Sora insisted, determined that if he kept talking without pause, he wouldn’t give his friend time to guilt trip himself. “You couldn’t have known all this would happen, and you  _ saved _ me.”

“Sora…” Riku tried once more, his tone growing weary at Sora’s continued interruptions.

“Besides,” Sora went on, a grin tugging at his features as he sensed Riku beginning to give up, “I can always ask Merlin to make contacts for me if it bothers everyone that much.”

Riku couldn’t help a quiet snort of laughter, some of his concerns eased by Sora’s familiar, cheery optimism. “Aren’t you jealous though?”

“That you passed?” Sora asked, and Riku nodded silently. “Who wouldn’t be? But you  _ earned  _ it, Riku. Not just from the exam, from  _ everything _ you’ve been working at.”

“You’re too soft. But you-”

“I didn’t,” Sora interrupted with a shake of his head, looking as stubbornly determined as Riku had ever seen. “Not yet. Something’s still...missing. And I think that’s why I’m so restless, I  _ know _ I’m missing something and I want to go out and  _ do _ something about it.”

“You never could sit still for more than a few minutes,” Riku said, slowly beginning to relax as he became more sure that Sora was  _ actually _ okay. Or at least mostly okay. “But you’re still too hard on yourself, So.”

“That’s rich coming from you of all people,” Sora teased. “Are  _ you _ okay?”

“I think so,” Riku said, pushing his duffel bag onto the floor so he could settle down in his bed. “Better now that you’re okay.”

“And you call me soft,” Sora laughed, laying down alongside his friend without asking. Riku wordlessly scooted to the side to make room, having learned from the age of four that trying to convince Sora  _ not _ to lay so close when he was in a snuggly mood was a lost cause. “You should rest though…”

“You should too,” Riku said as Sora shifted to lean comfortably against his chest. “Even if you can’t sleep.”

“Is that a great and wise keyblade master’s order?”

Riku flicked his forehead in response, and Sora laughed, relieved beyond words that their familiar closeness and banter had returned so quickly after Xemnas’s defeat. “Don’t worry so much,” Sora said. “I’ll catch up to you in no time."

“Sure better,” Riku agreed. “Axel wouldn’t let you live it down if he passed you up in training.”

“Lea.”

“I’m never going to get used to that.”

“Come on, cut him a little slack,” Sora said with a soft laugh. “It sounds like you’re gonna have to get used to him being around.”

“Guess he did save both of our asses,” Riku conceded in a mutter.

“Language,” Sora chided, lightly swatting him on the shoulder but not really meaning it.

Riku simply rolled his eyes, shifting to allow Sora to nestle against him more comfortably. “Get some rest already,” Sora murmured, closing his eyes and laying his arm over Riku’s side. “My turn to watch over you for a while.”

“Still too soft,” Riku said, though he felt his tension loosening as he closed his eyes and laid his head back. “You’re sure you’re okay…?”

“I’m sure,” Sora said, a smile tugging at his lips as he couldn’t help but see the irony in Riku continually calling  _ him _ soft. “Better rest while you can, oh great and wise keyblade master.”

“How long are you going to keep calling me that?”

“For as long as it gets an annoyed reaction out of you,” Sora replied, laughing when Riku responded by mussing up his already-impossibly-messy hair. “Are you ever gonna go to sleep?”

“When you stop picking on me,” Riku said, unable to help a soft laugh of his own. “Sometimes I forget how hard it is to get you to  _ stop talking _ .”

“Don’t worry,” Sora said with his cheekiest grin. “I’ll  _ never _ let you forget that. Now  _ shh _ . Sleep time.”

“You’re impossible,” Riku said, but when he opened one eye to look down at his friend, his gaze was full of nothing but amused affection. “You try and get some rest too. Night, So…”

“Night, Riku,” Sora said, more than happy at the prospect of spending the entire night snuggled up in this exact position. He was still pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to get any sleep himself, but he was okay with that. He had far more things to think over than any normal teenager ever should, and he still needed to figure out what to do next to get rid of that annoying, restless itch.

And it wasn’t as though he was going to give up on earning his Mark of Mastery either. His competitive streak wouldn’t even  _ begin _ to let him trail behind Riku, at least not for long.

He was convinced that if that much hadn’t changed since they were four, it wasn’t going to change anytime soon.


End file.
